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Bitcoins are yet another
step closer to going mainstream. Robocoin today announced that it will roll
out the first-ever Bitcoin ATM machines in the U.S. later this
month, starting with Seattle and Austin, Texas. Exactly where
in the cities the machines will be installed is still unknown.

Robocoin’s CEO Jordan Kelley told Time magazine in September
2013 that his firm was “working on deals” that would see its
digital currency machines delivered to locations in Los
Angeles, Florida, New York, and Austin by December or January.
All of those cities have yet to have them installed.

Robocoin’s specialized machines, which let users exchange
bitcoins for cash and cash for bitcoins, scan users’ driver’s
licenses and passports to identify them, according to Reuters. Gigaom reports that the company’s
Vancouver ATM is equipped with a biometric sensor that blocks
the same person from exchanging more than $3,000 a day.

Using the Vancouver Robocoin kiosk isn’t free, of course. Also
according to Gigaom, users have to foot a 5 percent transaction
processing fee to Robocoin, which is pricier than online Bitcoin
exchanges.

Robocoin says it also plans to install a Bitcoin ATM in Calgary,
Alberta later this year, with machines to eventually follow in
Europe and Asia as well.